Clan Rattray

Clan Rattray is a Highland Scottish clan.

The name Rattray is taken from the barony of Rattray in Perthshire. This barony has been in their possession since the eleventh century. The Rattray estate includes the ruins of a pict rath-tref or fort dwelling. It stands on a sandy mound which is associated by local tradition with Pagan rites.

The first recorded Laird of Rattray was Alan who witnessed charters by William the Lion and Alexander II of Scotland.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence, Alan's grandson, Eustace Rattray, was captured at the Battle of Dunbar (1296) and taken to England as a prisoner. Eustace's son was Adam Rattray who swore fealty to Edward I of England, appearing on the Ragman Rolls of 1296. Adam was succeeded by his son, Alexander Rattray, who was amongst the barons who sat in the Parliament at Ayr to determine the succession to the throne in 1315. Alexander was succeeded by his brother, Eustace, the sixth Laird of Rattray, who was accused of being involved in a plot to depose Robert the Bruce, but he was later acquitted.

In 1463 Sir Silvester Rattray of Rattray was an ambassador to England and inherited from his mother large estates around Fortingall in Atholl. This caused the powerful Stewart Earl of Atholl to be jealous. Silvester Rattray was succeeded by his son, John, who had been knighted in 1488 by James IV of Scotland. His eldest son died serving in the Netherlands as a professional soldier but he left another two sons and two daughters. The eldest of the two daughters was Grizel who had married John Stewart, Earl of Atholl and the earl promptly claimed half of the barony of Rattray in her right. The earl also induced his wife's sister, Elizabeth, to try and obtain her share of the Rattray barony. Sir John Rattray's second son, Patrick Rattray, was driven from Rattray Castle in 1516 by the Earl of Atholl and was forced to take refuge in Nether Kinballoch where he built a new house at Craighall. However the Stewart Earl of Atholl murdered him in 1533.

The third son of Sir John Rattray was another Silvester Rattray who succeeded his murdered brother. Due to the Earl of Atholl's continuing threats he petitioned to the king for dispensation to be legally recognised in the courts in Dundee instead of Perth where the Earl of Atholl had great influence and Silvester considered the visit too dangerous.

Silvester Rattray was succeeded by his son, David Rattray of Craighall, who had three sons. The second son was another Silvester Rattray who was Reverend of Persie and became the first minister of Rattray after the Scottish Reformation. The eldest son, George, was murdered in 1592 and so Silvester, the younger son, succeeded to the title.

Silvester Rattray was tutored by his uncle, the Reverend John Rattray and allied himself to the powerful Earls of Erroll, chiefs of Clan Hay. He died in 1612 leaving three sons. The eldest son was David Rattray who fought for Charles I of England during the Scottish Civil War and as a result his seat at Craighall endured a short siege. The youngest son was John Rattray who was captured at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 after the defeat of Charles II of England, then imprisoned in the Tower of London.